Tips for great sleep

What is Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB)?

March 17th, 2017

When sleep goes wrong, it can pose serious risks for our health and wellbeing. Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is the umbrella term for a variety of different nocturnal breathing disorders, including central sleep apnoea (CSA), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and Cheyne-Stokes Respiration (CSR). Here’s a quick primer on the types, the risks, and the treatment.

What are the different types of SDB ?

Let’s start with some vocabulary. An apnoea is an event where breathing stops completely for ten seconds or more. A hypopnoea is similar, but breathing is reduced not stopped. Anarousal occurs when the brain notices the lack of oxygen and kick-starts the breathing process. This mini-awakening is responsible for the disturbed nights and poor-quality sleep associated with SDB. The Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index (AHI) indicates the number of events that occur per hour of sleep. People with severe sleep apnoea can experience over 30 arousals (mini wake-ups) per hour – it’s no surprise they feel exhausted during the day!

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when the muscles of the throat relax and obstruct the upper airway during sleep. OSA is often accompanied by loud snoring or snorting, especially during arousals. Central sleep apnoea (CSA) is much rarer, and occurs when the brain stops sending signals to the breathing muscles during sleep. The airways remain open, but breathing stops. With Cheyne-Stokes Respiration (CSR), there is a period of shallow breathing followed by deep breathing, with intermittent central apnoeas.

What are the risks of SDB?

It’s common knowledge that a bad night’s sleep can leave us feeling grumpy, forgetful and depressed the next day. Untreated SDB is more than ‘a bad night’s sleep’: it can have very serious consequences. It diminishes quality of life and is associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. For example, if you have untreated OSA, you have almost twice the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease1, three times the risk of dying from cardiovascular issues2, and more than six times the risk of having a traffic accident3. And that’s before we talk about the impact of loud snoring on your long-suffering bed partner and your relationship.

Other solutions are also available. For example, customised dental devices can help to restore normal night-time breathing and improve sleep quality. Changing your lifestyle can also help: for some people – but not all – OSA can be caused or worsened by obesity, alcohol and smoking, or the use of sedatives.

If you think you might suffer from SDB, make an appointment with your doctor and get yourself checked out. And if you have questions about SDB, why not ask one of our specialist sleep clinicians on 0800 917 7071 or email them at mySleep@resmed.com?

Campos-Rodriguez et al., Cardiovascular Mortality in Women With Obstructive Sleep Apnoea With or Without Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment: A Cohort Study, Annals of internal Medicine, 2012. In this study the increased risk of cardiovascular death is calculated specifically amongst women with sleep apnoea.

Teran-Santos et al. The association between sleep apnea and the risk of traffic accidents, New England Journal of Medicine 1999. In this study the increased risk of traffic accidents is calculated in the general sleep apnoea population (men and women).

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* ResMed recorded and analysed 2,000,000 nights of sleep in the development of S+

** Users with average sleep scores between 50-60 improved their sleep by an average of 44.71 minutes per night after one week of use.

*** Below average users are those with an average sleep score below 75. Poor sleep is defined as an average sleep score between 50-60. Very poor sleep is defined as an average sleep score between 30-50. Users with average sleep scores between 30-50 improved their sleep by more than 70 minutes per night after one week of use. Aggregate S+ user data as of 03/19/2015. All data is derived from a sample size of [5932] users as of 03/19/2015. Your results may be different.

Note: S+ is not a medical device. If you are seeking information on how to treat a sleep disorder, you should talk to your healthcare provider.